Facet Control of Gold Nanoplate on Sacrificial Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

The synthesis of gold nanostructures (AuNS) is a classical topic, celebrated for the exceptional capabilities these structures exhibit across a spectrum of applications. Controlling the morphology and location of gold nanostructures on a large scale is typically a complex task. For example, the thermal annealing method necessitates precise management of the wetting behavior between the gold nanofilm and the substrate during heating to facilitate the transformation of the gold nanofilm into gold nanostructures. Here, the study innovatively applies 2D monolayer MoS₂ as the sacrificial substrate for gold nanostructure growth, leveraging the epitaxy between MoS₂ and gold. This relationship leads to the patterning of larger and more uniform gold nanostructures when contrasted with those grown on original SiO₂/Si substrates. Moreover, the gold nanostructures prepared under this method present four times enhancement in photoluminescence signal of AuNS/TMDC heterostructure, demonstrating the potential application on optoelectronics.